- Art & Design
The founder and president of Italian furniture brand Edra compares their collection to an orchestra: each element is fundamental to the harmony of the final result. Timelessness, elegance, comfort and beauty are music to our ears as well, so we are happy to put this brand in the spotlight.
The story of Edra officially begins in 1987 when brother and sister Valerio and Monica Mazzei present their first collection. As the second generation in a family of furniture makers, they too dreamed of being able to turn their passion into a unique project. This became Edra, a company that not only strives for the highest quality in everything it does, but also values research and innovation highly. Therefore, the Italian family business regularly collaborates with other designers, both well-known names and emerging talents, to keep their collection interesting and responsive to the needs of their customers. Imagicasa caught up with the president and co-founder for an exclusive interview, and he proudly tells us how he and his sister managed to build Edra into an internationally renowned company. 
What does design mean to you?
‘At Edra, the authors of each project have always played an important role and they still do, I like the word 'designer' less every day. It is a stereotypical word. Everything is defined as design. In my opinion, the word 'design' is like the word 'quality', if there is no adjective next to it (low, average, high) it means nothing. My idea has always been to produce the maximum quality, the superlative, incorrigible.’
What was the idea behind founding Edra?
‘To produce seats and armchairs with the highest performance in terms of comfort, beauty, elegance and timelessness. And with maximum quality. We have worked with many different authors, sometimes unknown who then became super famous, who had something in them. They brought a new vision and new projects that could last forever. This was the case for the 'Tatlin' sofa by R. Semprini and M. Cananzi, one of Edra's first products, and for all the other products that came later.’ 
Did you always want to start your own furniture company?
‘I was born into this world. My father started the furniture business when he was six years old. In the morning he went to school and in the evening he heated up the glue in the wood workshop to learn this trade. I was enrolled at the economic university, but this world of furniture fascinated me, it's in my DNA and I can only say that this choice still gives me enormous satisfaction.’
How has the company changed or remained the same and what dreams do you still have?
‘Since Edra was founded, nothing has changed for me. Sure, the company has grown over the years, we have introduced more, but very selective new products. We have few pieces in our collection, each of them is made to perfection and by hand, we would not be able to achieve the maximum and absolute quality we want to offer if we did it any other way. The company's dream is to have an interesting collection of products that are projected onto the people who will use them.’ 
‘That's impossible to say. The whole of the collaborations is necessary and unique for me. The Edra collection is like an orchestra, each element is fundamental to the harmony of the final sound. Some products have an incredibly high sales volume, others a more limited one, but that doesn't mean they have a lower value. Every collaboration and every product contributes to what Edra does and what Edra is.’
Having said that, in this article we still like to highlight the 'Grande Soffice', 'Standard' and 'On the Rocks' sofas that fully reflect what the Italian high-end furniture brand stands for. It is a pleasure to look at these images and we can assure you that these timeless designs also do what they promise in terms of comfort. 
If you want to learn more about Edra, be sure to read our full article in Imagicasa Summer 2021.
Images courtesy of Edra